In this often tedious follow-up to Hitler, the War, and the Pope
, law professor Rychlak, at the University of Mississippi. defends Pius XII against critics, from James Carroll to Daniel Goldhagen and Susan Zuccotti, who accuse the pope of inaction against the Holocaust. Given access to closed Vatican archives, Rychlak amasses evidence to exonerate Pius, uncovering instances where the pope not only spoke out against Hitler but also acted in various ways to save Jews. For example, he wrote a letter that allowed 700 Jews safe passage in 1942 as they immigrated to the United States. In October 1943, the Vatican "vigorously protested the arrest of Jews, requesting the interruption of such action." The targets of Rychlak's criticism will surely have more to say in this ongoing exchange, and they're as likely to focus on his occasional manipulation of the evidence as he does on theirs. For instance, while Pius XII condemned the Germans' use of "asphyxiating and poison gases" in WWI, Rychlak reads it as a condemnation of the gas chambers. He presents evidence systematically and thoroughly, but much of it relates only indirectly to Pius himself and fails to fully convince. (Nov.)
